Hernan Photography

AWARD-WINNING PHOTOGRAPHER HERNAN RODRIGUEZ TEAMS WITH TAMRON USA AT PHOTO VIDEO WEST

hernanph — Wed, 01 May 2013 00:32:43 +0000

HERNAN RODRIGUEZ JOINS A LINE-UP OF THE NATION’S TOP PHOTOGRAPHY PROS AT PHOTO VIDEO WEST, APPEARING IN THE TAMRON THEATER.

VICTORIA CAPTURED USING A TAMRON 70-200 SP-VC. EXPOSURE: 1/30TH SEC. F5/ISO 400

Photo Video West, the largest photo and video show on the West Coast for photography professionals and amateurs, was held April 27-28, 2013 at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, was pleased to announce the addition of award-winning photographer Hernan Rodriguez of TAMRON USA to the panel of professional presenters. Rodriguez demonstrated the techniques of his work in his seminar “Portraits That Speak ‘Beyond the Looking Glass,’” in which he presented both Saturday and Sunday in the Tamron Theater.

KALEB WAS CAPTURED USING THE NEW Tamron SP-VC 70-200mm.

“Portraits That Speak ‘Beyond the Looking Glass’” took you through an in depth look at the many factors Rodriguez incorporates into creating an honest and long lasting portrait, including placing your subject in the most flattering light and establishing a working relationship between the subject and photographer. Rodriguez covered techniques that have turned him into a photography sensation in the music, entertainment and sports industry,

THIS IMAGE OF KALEB WAS RECOMPOSED USING A FOCAL LENGTH OF 200MM USING THE TAMRON 70-200 SP-VC

Rodriguez reviewed the choice of lenses and it’s uses in his personal work, from fashion, commercial and celebrity portraits, as well as capturing practical portraits on location. A life demonstration and shootout was presented in the Tamron booth during the show. Photographers in attendance were given the opportunity to use one of the many lenses provided by Tamron USA, a leading lens manufacturer. Among the many lenses available for viewing, the 18-270mm VC All-in-One™ Zoom, SP24-70 F/2.8 Di VC USD and new SP70-200 F/2.8 Di VC USD were featured by Rodriguez and showcased at the counter. Here are some of the wonderful images captured during the event.

THIS IMAGE OF VICTORIA WAS CAPTURED USING A FOCAL LENGTH OF 100MM USING THE TAMRON 70-200 SP-VC

THIS IMAGE OF VICTORIA WAS CAPTURED USING A FOCAL LENGTH OF 100MM USING THE TAMRON 70-200 SP-VC. HAND HELD @ 1/30TH SECOND F4

COMPOSING CINEMATIC IMAGES ON LOCATION WITH THE TAMRON 70-200 F2.8 SP-VC

BACKGROUND was created using a WESTCOTT Velvet Vintage Backdrop. A standard Muslin may be used in its place.

LIGHTING: For the KEY LIGHT, a Westcott SpiderLite placed in a 16×20 soft box was used directly overhead, four feet above subject. As a second option, a Westcott Ice Light was used as an alternate.

The center position created a classic modified butterfly lighting pattern. This light is also feathered away from directly striking the subject. This gives a pleasing softness, illuminating the face, & vignetting as the light falls off the subject. The keylight is metered at approximately F4 1/2.

For FILL LIGHT, another daylight balanced Westcott continuos SpiderLite is placed in a large softbox to slightly open shadows. This fill is weak metering F2.8. This light was placed to camera left, 6 feet away from subject.

A large Westcott Silver Reflector was placed low and in front of subject, for added Fill -to further open up the shadows and add sparkle to the eyes.

(Note: This can add 1/2 stop to your shadows)

ACCENT LIGHTS (Optional). For further separation, we used a ROSCO LED LITEPAD on each side of our subject and placed the lights at a high angle set 4 feet behind subject. These lights were gelled with color for an edgy look, or with amber for warm tones. This light varied from F4 – F5.6.

LIGHTING DIAGRAM

BEHIND THE SCENES – KEY LIGHT IS A LARGE 36X48 WESTCOTT SOFTBOX WITH NARROW STRIP BANK AS FILL

BEHIND THE SCENES VIDEO FOOTAGE

LENS CHOICE SELECTION: The lens used for the portrait demonstration was a TAMRON SP 70-200VC. The lens gave me the range of shooting tighter head-shots, as well as pulling back for 3/4 fashion shots. The VC (Vibration Control) also allowed me to shoot hand held with much slower speeds without using a tripod and compromising my shots. Speeds of 1/30th sec. @ F5

HERNAN IN SESSION USING THE TAMRON SP-VC 70-20MM

It can buy me as much as 2 Stops. These are other advantages to shooting with the 70-200mm.

Narrow Angle of View - Simple put, I can simplify my background and highlight the focus on my subject.

Less Distortion - As I shoot further away from my subject, I will have less distortion.

More Comfortable - The distance allows the subject to feel more at ease

My second choice selection was using the Tamron 90mm. F2.8 Di VC.

KALEB WAS SHOT USING THE TAMRON 70-200 SP-VC. FOCAL LENGTH WAS 200MM

LIGHT IT MAGAZINE by Scott Kelby

hernanph — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 17:39:48 +0000

ENJOY THIS ARTICLE BY HERNAN FOR SCOTT KELBY’S LIGHT-IT MAGAZINE AVAILABLE @ ITUNES. HERNAN COVERS HIS TECHNIQUES ON PHOTOGRAPHING CHILDREN.

IT’S A WRAP

hernanph — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 22:24:14 +0000

Many of my images whether for a commercial client or just advancing my personal work, begins with visual concepts. My recent thoughts were coming up with a “New” approach” to an image with a commercial feel, with snap, and good transitions throughout the skin tones. Of course, nothing’s new. Everything’s been done before. As a trained artist, I really like to illustrate most of my ideas on a sketch pad, noting the style of lighting or “feel” of the image I want to portray. Where I would place my lights, and maybe what I want to emote in the final image. I find it to be a really good practice and highly recommend it. It takes a lot of the guess work out. These copious notes I save and refer to later as my “Tried and Tested” archives. I might have a client wanting a specific “look” which I might have perfected. It comes down to opportunity meeting preparation.

Well, back to my idea on this recent light test. I recently received or should I say, requested two of the largest umbrellas WESTCOTT makes. These two monsters side by side just fit in my studio. It all started as a visual concept so I had to make good on this thought. When Nathan, my key photographer opened these puppies, he mentioned how awesome the quality of light we were going to achieve from just one umbrella. The larger the light source, the softer the light.

TWO LARGE FILL UMBRELLAS FROM SUBJECT’S VIEW

My visuals on paper were to have the largest wrap-around light source I can attain, but to be used as fill. The first thing I did was to place two of these large umbrellas directly to the left and to the right of my camera, feathered towards my subject. The umbrella from camera left coming across the front of the subjects left shoulder, and the umbrella from camera right coming across the front of the subjects right shoulder. “Feathering”. More questions email at hernan148@mac.com. In any case, each light was set at F.4. Both reading at F5.6 as my fill. This gave me a beautiful wrap-around fill which can not be attained by just one light source. The quality is unmatchable. I’ve tried bouncing lights from flats, one umbrella fill, soft boxes and more. This light is just different. If one is good, two is better.

HERE’S AN EXAMPLE OF THE WRAP AROUND FILL QUALITY

My next objective was in adding a brighter accent on my subjects face with a quick fall-off. I wanted to highlight the upper region and let it graduate darker. I chose to use an 18” Dynalite Beauty Dish, with a diffuser cover. This gave me a harder quality of light with more specularity. The snap I was trying to achieve. I placed this on a boom directly over camera for that “Top Light” quality. A close distance of about 4 feet from subject, also produced the quick falloff, keeping the light centered on the face.

You can see this set-up two ways. The two large umbrellas as a keylight, with a small accent on the face, or you can see a small overhead keylight source with a large wrap-around fill.

MORE EXAMPLES FROM SAME SESSION

The main light was set at F 8.5. This allowed for the right amount of shadows and contouring I was after. Two more lights were added from behind on each side of my subject as accent. One with a Strobelite and 20 degree grid set at F.11, and the other a small 16×20 softbox with an added blue gel at F.11.5. One more Strobelight with a 30 degree grid was used for the background. This light setup gave me nice contouring which is also more desirable for men. Funny how this whole shoot began. A question was recently brought to my attention. “Hernan-do you ever shoot men”? I do, I replied, but looking at my body of work, I thought, not enough though. So I put out a casting call for men, and decided to shoot my concept. Turned out great! Now I have visual concepts with tried and tested lighting.

LIGHTING DIAGRAM

ALMOND OIL WAS APPLIED TO THE MODELS’ AND SPRAYED WITH GLYCERIN

Stay tuned. This same light set-up I have taken outdoors with sycro-syncing. Adding the sun as an extra light source has added new dynamics and dimension to the discussed. Subject being children.

PUNTO MAGAZINE

hernanph — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 18:27:29 +0000

RANGEFINDER MAGAZINE 2

hernanph — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 18:52:02 +0000

RANGEFINDER MAGAZINE CHILDREN ARTICLE NOV 2006

RANGEFINDER MAGAZINE 1

hernanph — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 18:12:17 +0000


RANGEFINDER SENIOR ARTICLE AUGUST 2009

PRESS ARTICLES

hernanph — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 00:02:18 +0000

hernanph — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 04:55:58 +0000

PhotoShop User Cover I

hernanph — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 21:17:03 +0000

PSU COVER , NOVEMBER 2006

This actually is an older post which I would like to share. It also is one of the portraits in my new feature book. 75 Portraits by Hernan Rodriguez. It is one of my favorite images. In the diagram below, it describes the simple light setup. There is no substitute to the beautiful light provided by nature.

Content from my friend Mike MacKenzie @ Photoshop User

Photoshop Magazine – Hernan Rodriguez

hernanph — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 19:26:10 +0000